January 27, 2011

Photo du Jour - So Many Choices

Bio Wine Fair

An organic wine fair, the 18th annual Millésime Bio, kicked off In Montpellier on Monday, offering an impressive selection of wines from 12 different countries. I spotted producers from France (of course!), Spain, Egypt, Italy, Hungary, Austria, the US, Germany and Greece.
While making the rounds, the things that impressed me the most were the passion and the knowledge of the producers and the sophistication of their wines.

Of course we didn't have a chance to taste them all in just one day, so here are a few of the highlights: 
Erbaceo white wine and Selvato red from Puglia
The wines of Domaine Allegria and Château Pech Redon from the Languedoc-Roussillon
The Rieslings from the Domaine Bernhard Reibel in Alsace
A Saumur Blanc from the Domaine du Pas Saint Martin in the Loire Pin It

6 comments:

Mlle Paradis said...

oh yum! what a nice little detour. we have had gites holidays a couple of times in that area and remember getting a nice red from the caves cooperatives in octon. (and only in france - the lady who helped us looked like a cross between dominique sanda and beverly d'angelo). a friend in marseille was very impressed with it! i'm sure the local wines are getting better!

Emm said...

When I saw your headline, I was sure it was going to be a post about a cheese fair! Those wines sound very interesting.

HamishWM said...

Did you try the Egyptian wines?? I was amazed....as much by the story of growing grapes in the desert in 50 degrees heat as by the wines themselves. The whole show was excellent. Totally agree there were some fervent, passionate wine growers. The organic culture has certainly advanced from 'beard and sandals'.

Jennifer said...

Mlle Paradis
The local wines just keep getting better and better! Nice to hear from readers who know and appreciate the Languedoc.

Emm
Oh...I wish it had been! :)
There's a big cheese fair in northern Italy every 2 years that I would love to experience and there's another outside of Paris that I definitely plan on going to next time.

Hamish
No, we didn't...I saw the Egyptian wine as we were walking to meet someone and then lost track of them.
I was so impressed by the sophistication of the wine. Gone are the days of grubby, bio wines!

Pepe Le Pew said...

Just reading it made me thirsty.

Jennifer said...

Pepe
We arrived ready to taste but after 7 hours my palate was exhausted!